Salazar's Secret
by alyssialui
Summary: Helga discovers Salazar's secret. Salazar/Helga. Founders' Era.


_A/N: Helga discovers Salazar's secret. Salazar/Helga. Founders' Era._

 _Edit: Some people who read this got the impression that Salazar was muggleborn. Salazar is not muggleborn._

 _Submission for:_

 _ **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments):** Potions Assignment#2 - write about the effects of a secret being revealed._

 _ **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments): **Speed Drabble - "Are you good at keeping secrets?", groan, Salazar Slytherin/Helga Hufflepuff_

 _ **Open Category 4:** Founders' Era_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

* * *

It was late, the sound of the cicadas filtering through the windows on the first floor. Helga's footsteps echoed off the stone walls as she made her way through the corridor. Her eyes darted all around her, her path illuminated by the flickering candle she held in her hand. She had been asleep in her quarters, when there was a low groan and a tremour which shook her awake.

She turned the corner to see someone standing there, staring intently at a blank space of wall. His shoulders were hunched, his black cloak drawn tightly around his body, but there was no mistaking the silver serpent of his cane. What was Salazar doing in the dark?

Now that she thought about it, he had been acting strangely lately. He rarely spent time with her and the others, and always retired early for the night. Though whenever she asked, he simply waved away her concerns, quickly changing the subject and distracting her thoughts with his silver tongue.

But tonight, it was just him and her and she might have just caught him in the act. She stepped forward, his name on her lips when the bricks moved out of place to form a dark tunnel, a damp smell immediately assaulting her nostrils as he stepped across the threshold.

She peered into the darkness, a chill running across her skin as his footsteps echoed back to her. There was something wrong here, she should probably leave while she still could. She could ask him in the morning, or pretending she never saw anything at all. But this could also be her big chance to uncover the truth herself.

She stepped through, holding the candle high as she started after the man.

She walked for a few feet, her mind running wild as she tried to rationalize Salazar's actions, when suddenly, there was a hand on her wrist. She screamed, dropping the candle in terror and plunging her into darkness.

"Helga, what are you doing down here?"

She followed the arm to the man's face, barely able to make out Salazar's features. However, once she had calmed down, she scowled. "I could ask you the same thing," she said, pulling her hand from his grip. "What is this place? Is this where you've been every night?"

He sighed before he asked, "Are you good at keeping secrets?"

She stepped forward, her amber eyes searching his of onyx. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

He took her hand and pulled her along with him further down the tunnel until they finally reached the exit. "This," he said.

Her mouth fell open as she found herself in a large open room. Water flowed from the mouths of large stone snakes into small troughs along the wall. Had this place always existed beneath the castle?

She turned, ready to ask him, when her eyes landed on a few round dark spheres piled a few feet away.

"Are those... basilisk eggs?!" she cried, her voice slightly muffled by the rushing water.

Before he could answer, she grabbed the front of his robes. "Here I was, worrying about your well-being, wondering why you were shutting me out, and you were down here trying to hatch a basilisk?! Don't you know how dangerous they are?"

He grabbed her hands and pulled her off him. "I am more than capable of controlling them," he said. "They will only do as I tell them."

"Why do you need them? What are you planning?" she asked.

He looked away, unable to meet her eyes, and she gasped. "You're still going on about all that purist nonsense?"

"It's not nonsense!" he roared. "It is how things should be. Only those who are worthy, those who are like us deserve to be taught. They need to hone their abilities and show the world the full extent of their abilities. That is impossible if they are dragged down and held back by those unworthy."

"So you want to kill them with this... this... monster?" she asked.

He stood a bit straighter, his eyes blazing and his teeth bared. "If they are not able to defend themselves, then they deserve whatever fate is given to them!"

"I can't believe this. I knew you were passionate, one of the things I loved about you, but I never thought you'd do something like this."

"I'm sorry if I don't fit your perfect world, Helga!" he screamed. "Not everyone grew up in a loving home, not everyone was free to practice their magic in the open! My family had to hide or else they were killed. They were feared by the Muggles, and persecuted for their powers. I worked hard to get where I am, and those Muggleborns simply get this gift. They don't deserve it!"

With tears in her eyes, she snatched the locket around her neck and threw it at his feet. "Then you don't deserve me," she said before she ran back through the tunnel.

The next day, Salazar was nowhere to be found. She told Godric and Rowena about the tunnel and Salazar's basilisk, but none of them were able to get into the tunnel. So the chamber remained beneath the castle, hopefully sealed for eternity.


End file.
